Charley Hoffman grabs two-shot lead at Heritage

Charley Hoffman, seeking his first US PGA Tour win in three years, fired a five-under par 66 to seize a two-shot lead after three rounds of the UIS$5.8 million Heritage tournament.

Hoffman played without a bogey on Saturday to build a 54-hole total of 11-under 202. He was two shots in front of fellow American Webb Simpson, who carded a 65 for 204.

Hoffman, Steve LeBrun and Kevin Streelman had shared the 36-hole lead after the rain-disrupted second round concluded on Saturday morning. A record-tying 91 players made the halfway cut.

Once the third round got underway, Hoffman was on the move. He birdied four of his first five holes, and ended up needing just 21 putts in the round as he put himself in position to nab a third career tour title and his first since 2010 in Boston.

Simpson, the US Open champion who missed the cut at the Masters, notched the lowest score of the third round to climb up the leaderboard.

Streelman was in third place after a 69 for an eight-under total of 205. It was a further stroke back to Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge (67) and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (68) on 206.

Simpson, who has not won since his US Open triumph last year, had six birdies and no bogeys.

SPANISH OPEN

AFP, VALENCIA, Spain

A four-under-par round of 68 propelled Scotsman Marc Warren into a two shot lead at the Spanish Open in Valencia after Saturday’s third round.

Warren, a two-time winner on the European tour, was followed by compatriot Craig Lee after his two-under-par round of 70 gave him a one shot advantage over the chasing pack at five under.

Birdies at the third, fifth and seventh got Warren off to the perfect start and despite dropped shots at the ninth and 14th, further birdies on the back nine at the 10th, 12th and 15th made it a very satisfactory round for the 32-year-old.

The best round of the day, though, was from Englishman David Horsey, whose wonderful 66 put him in contention at five-under for the tournament.

Horsey was joined on five-under by fellow Englishman Paul Waring, but it was a disappointing day for overnight leader Peter Uihlein as the American’s 74 dropped him back to four-under overall alongside Raphael Jacquelin, David Howell and Maximilian Kieffer.

However, there was more promising news for local favorite Sergio Garcia as he shot a two-under-par 70 to move to one under for the tournament and up to 23rd in the overall standings.

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